Thursday, September 30, 2010

Have You Forgotten? A Tribute To The Heroes Of 9-11-01

Faithful readers may have noticed that there was no article written on this site for 9-11-2010. That is because this author spent that day with family remembering that day nine years ago when our country lost thousands of innocent lives, and the lives that are still being lost due to incurable illness caused to the paid and volunteer emergency responders upon inhaling toxic materials at Ground Zero.

The heaviness, terror, and confusion of 9-11-01 will not be forgotten by this author. There are many untold stories of this tragic event as it affected major cities beyond the four points of impact. There are those people who worked in private industry as Security & Public Safety Professionals at major points of interest in major cities that were possible or confirmed targets of this national day of mourning. Until all flights were grounded, and the only aircraft in the skies were those belonging to the United States Armed Forces, no one knew for sure how many more aircraft could possibly be involved.

This author was one of those people charged with the security & safety of a known terror target in Chicago, Il. in a Command position. While I cannot publicly give sensitive details about operations on that day, I can tell you that none of us knew if we were going home alive, much less what more to expect. This author has a family member who was in the U.S. Armed Services and called into emergency response on 9-11-01.

Although there was an entry on this site previous to 9-11-10 about the N3U Special Memorial Amateur Station, it is only fitting that the last day of this month be closed out at Shortwave America in tribute to the lives lost, those dying from illness caused during performance of emergency duties, those living on in perpetual mourning caused by traumatic loss of loved ones, and the Amateur Radio Operators who kept communications up when Police, Fire, and other Public Safety Systems were non-existant.

Those who survived 9/11/01 regardless of who you are, your occupation, age, race, ethnicity, religion, social or political preference.

Those who suffer in any way from having witnessed the events of 9-11-01 unfold. Don't be blinded or numbed by the media footage, for it was not violence for the sake of sensationalism, it was the footage of innocent people from all walks of life becoming heroes, all except for the cowards who became mass murderers on that day. It IS historical footage of real evidence that will prove that we as a nation survived 9-11-01 and that we rose again from those tragic ashes.

The hundreds, possibly thousands of Amateur Radio Operators who passed traffic, performed net control duties, and performed other needed tasks beyond the communications scope. You performed your service to the nation in a heroic fashion!

On 9-11-01, America's enemies learned two things: America will not bow to terrorism at any time, and we will not forget!